A Kenyan court on Wednesday ordered a Chinese man to pay a fine of 1 million shillings ($7,746) and gave him a 12-month jail term for trying to smuggle live ants out of the country.
The magistrate in the case said a stiff sentence was needed as a deterrent, given a spate of cases in Kenya of ant-trafficking.
It serves markets, such as China, where enthusiasts have paid large sums to maintain ant colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums that allow them to study the species’ complex social structures and behaviors.
Chinese national Zhang Kequn was arrested last month at Nairobi’s main international airport with more than 2,200 live garden ants in his luggage.
Zhang’s lawyer said he would appeal against his sentence.
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